Follow Â?The Music ManÂ?

St. JosephÂ?s High School production features experienced and new talent.

St. JosephÂ?s High School production features experienced and new talent.

January 26, 2009|By KATIE KOTARAK Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The familiar lyrics of Â?Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary, Indiana...Â? will soon resonate once again in the heads of many in the community.

St. JosephÂ?s High School students are nearing the end of rehearsals for their upcoming winter musical, Â?The Music Man,Â? which opens at 7 p.m. Thursday at OÂ?Laughlin Auditorium on the campus of Saint MaryÂ?s College.

Rehearsals have been in full swing since before Thanksgiving.

The cast meets four days a week after school and occasionally on weekends to run through lines, build sets and perfect the musicalÂ?s robust choreography.

This yearÂ?s winter musical will showcase many experienced actors, but thereÂ?s also some new talent participating in the production.

Â?There are some who have been doing (theater) for their entire lives and some (less experienced) students who enjoy the activity and really like being involved,Â? said Doug Miller, one of the musicalÂ?s three directors.

With a large cast, the playÂ?s directors wanted to choose a production that would be a good match for their students.

Â?You pick a show based on your student body. We were looking for (a musical) that would really showcase our talent,Â? Miller said.

English teacher and director Amy OÂ?Brien especially wanted to make sure the selected production boasted many different types of roles.

Â?We wanted a variety of roles to utilize the different kinds of talent,Â? OÂ?Brien said. Â?We have some really strong singers so we thought we had Harold and Marian.Â?

She, of course, was referring to Harold Hill, a con man who poses as a band leader, and Marian, the town librarian, who sees through HaroldÂ?s schemes and begins to fall in love with him.

Kurt Semmler and Nicole Tompkins play Harold and Marian.

The St. JosephÂ?s seniors have participated in many school productions and are also actively involved in community theater.

Starring in the lead roles and being upperclassmen, Semmler and Tompkins have the responsibility of leading by example.

Â?(Rehearsals are) definitely a challenge. But it is really rewarding when things all come together,Â? Tompkins said.

While a lot of focus is directed at the current production, Semmler and Tompkins want to make sure they inspire younger students to continue performing long after Â?The Music ManÂ? has left the stage.

Â?(We have to) set up a legacy for the following years,Â? Semmler noted.

Tompkins feels the same way.

Â?We realize there are people who donÂ?t do this all of the time, so we have to make it enjoyable for them,Â? Tompkins said.

Â?We want next yearÂ?s seniors to be just as passionate about this as we are so the drama department keeps going after we leave,Â? she said.